Peter Elliott (pharmacologist)

Peter Elliott (born August 19, 1958) is a British pharmacologist and drug developer who has initiated clinical trials across a range of disease areas, and is the co-developer of Velcade, a drug used to treat multiple myeloma.

Peter Elliott
Born
Peter John Elliott

(1958-08-19) August 19, 1958 (age 65)
NationalityBritish
Alma materLondon University (Chelsea College)
Cambridge University (Trinity College)
Scientific career
FieldsPharmacology, Drug Development
InstitutionsWapiti Pharmaceutical Consulting

Early life and education edit

Elliott was born in Cardiff, Wales and attended Llanishen High school before being accepted to study pharmacology at Chelsea College, University of London (1979-1981).[citation needed] During this period he spent a year gaining research experience at The Medical Clinic, Tubingen, Germany, working with Peter A. Berg[1] on the autoimmune disease, Primary biliary cholangitis (1978-1980). After graduating, Elliott embarked upon a Ph.D, under the supervision of Leslie and Susan Iversen at Cambridge University,[2][3] where he was a member of Trinity College (1981-1984). His research focused on the behavioural effects of neurokinins on catecholamine systems and was carried out at the Department of Psychology, and the Medical Research Council's (MRC) Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit (NCPU), at Addenbrookes Hospital. During his P.D, Elliott published seven research papers, including in the scientific journals, Nature and Science.[citation needed] The Nature paper was one of the first publications to utilize monoclonal antibodies as pharmaceutical tools. The monoclonal antibody to Substance P, used in the paper, was generated from an adjacent laboratory o César Milstein.[4][5]

Academic career edit

In 1984, Elliott was granted a research Fellowship to work with Charles B. Nemeroff at the Department of Psychiatry, Duke University.[6] There he investigated the role of neurotensin on dopamine systems in the central nervous system, in relation to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The following year he moved to Yale University & The Connecticut Mental Health Center to work with Michael J. Bannon (1985-1986)[7] to investigate the effects of neurokinins on molecular aspects of dopamine systems, and their potential role in psychiatry, and in particular, their ability to modulate the tardive dyskinesias elicited by certain neuroleptics. Subsequently, Elliott took a post-doctoral position in the Pharmacology Department, McGill University (1986-1988) where he focused on animal models of Alzheimer's disease, as well as developing new monoclonal antibodies for research purposes. During his tenure at McGill, Elliott was also invited to spend time, as a visiting scholar, with Erminio Costa[8] at the FIDIA-Georgetown University Institute for Neuroscience, where he explored the ability of nerve growth factor to modulate/repair degenerative diseases of the central nervous system.

Elliott moved into the pharmaceutical-biotechnology arena where he worked on developing drugs to treat conditions including inflammation, diabetes, pain and cancer.[citation needed] Elliott has over 300 publications in journals including Nature, Science, Cell, P.N.A.S., J. Medicinal Chemistry, Brain Research, Neuroscience, Blood, Cancer Research, and J. Clinical Oncology.[9][10][11][12][13]

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology career edit

During the second year at McGill, Elliott was recruited to Glaxo Group Research, in the UK (now GlaxoSmithKline) to head up their Parkinson's and Movement Disorder group. During this time (1988-1993), he also worked on preclinical aspects of the drug, Ondansetron (a novel and first in class antiemetic drug), as well as exploring novel non-opioid opportunities to develop drugs to treat pain.[citation needed] Elliott co-authored the Glaxo Pocket Guide to Pharmacology[14] during this period. In 1993, Elliott was hired by the biotechnology company, Alkermes Inc. as head of Pharmacology (1993-1996)[15] where he focused on novel drugs to treat stroke, and also on a permeabilizing agent, RMP-7, that enabled other drugs to treat glioma, and opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. In 1996, he was offered the head of Pharmacology at the biotechnology company, the ProScript (1996-2001), were, along with Julian Adams,[16] he co-developed a novel, anti-cancer agent, Velcade (PS-341), currently used to treat multiple myeloma. The clinical program was supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI; Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, Developmental Therapeutics Program).[17] ProScript was ultimately merged with LeukoSite, and then acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM[18]- now Takeda[19]) for $635mm.[20] MLNM was subsequently purchased by Takada who currently market Velcade. Throughout this time, Elliott led the clinical development of PS-341 until its final Phase III trial when it was approved by the FDA, and other regulatory authorities around the world.[citation needed] Elliott was also the project leader of an anti-stroke agent, PS-519, that completed Phase IIa clinical trials. Support for the development of PS-519 was, in part, achieved by Elliott being awarded a $100,000 SBIR grant,[21] and a CRADA contract with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

When leaving Millennium, Elliott was Senior Vice President of Pharmacology & Drug Development.[citation needed] Following the launch of Velcade, Elliott joined a new biotechnology company, CombinatoRx (CRx) as Executive Vice President of Product Development (2001-2005).[22] Here he launched numerous combination products into various inflammatory areas (asthma, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis) and oncology. During his time at CRx, Elliott was part of the management team that completed a successful $42 MM IPO[23] as well as gaining $20 MM support from the Singaporean government to start up a new company in Singapore to mimic the CRx model in the USA.[24][25][26][27] In 2005, Peter was recruited to another biotechnology company, Sirtris (2005-2009).[28][29] The company focused on diseases of ageing including diabetes, oncology and inflammatory conditions. Elliott was part of the management team that completed a $60 MM IPO,[30] and additional rounds of funding. He completed clinical trials in diabetics before the company was acquired by GSK in 2008 for $720 MM.[31] Elliott remained for the transition period, and then left in 2009, at this time he was Head of Research and Development.[32][33][34][35] Subsequently, Elliott set up his own consulting company, Wapiti Pharmaceutical Consulting, Marlboro, MA, USA.[citation needed]

Elliott is the co-author of patents relating to procedures and drugs worked on during his time in academia and within the industrial setting.[36][37][38][39]

Personal life edit

Elliott married Laura Bird (b 1957. d 2010) in 1983 and has a daughter and a son.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ "Peter Alfred Berg". Researchgate.net. 2021-02-22.
  2. ^ "The British Association for Psychopharmacology | News". www.bap.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  3. ^ "Professor Susan Iversen | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  4. ^ Cuello, A. C.; Galfre, G.; Milstein, C. (2021-02-22). "Detection of substance P in the central nervous system by a monoclonal antibody". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 76 (7): 3532–3536. doi:10.1073/pnas.76.7.3532. PMC 383862. PMID 386341.
  5. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  6. ^ "Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D. | Dell Medical School". dellmed.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  7. ^ "Michael Bannon School of Medicine Pharmacology". Pharmacology.med.wayne.edu. 2021-02-22.
  8. ^ Grayson, Dennis R.; Guidotti, Alessandro (2010). "Erminio Costa". Neuropsychopharmacology. 35 (13): 2646. doi:10.1038/npp.2009.231. ISSN 1740-634X. PMC 3055564.
  9. ^ Bannon, M. J.; Elliott, P. J.; Alpert, J. E.; Goedert, M.; Iversen, S. D.; Iversen, L. L. (1983). "Role of endogenous substance P in stress-induced activation of mesocortical dopamine neurones". Nature. 306 (5945): 791–792. doi:10.1038/306791a0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 6197656. S2CID 4333398.
  10. ^ Borges, L. F.; Elliott, P. J.; Gill, R.; Iversen, S. D.; Iversen, L. L. (1985-04-19). "Selective extraction of small and large molecules from the cerebrospinal fluid by Purkinje neurons". Science. 228 (4697): 346–348. doi:10.1126/science.2580350. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 2580350.
  11. ^ Elliott, P. J. (1986-06-01). "A reliable, rapid and inexpensive method for producing and implanting chronic cannulae into brains of small animals". Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 24 (6): 1809–1811. doi:10.1016/0091-3057(86)90527-7. ISSN 0091-3057. PMID 3737648. S2CID 23298334.
  12. ^ Elliott, P. J.; Nemeroff, C. B.; Kilts, C. D. (1986-10-22). "Evidence for a tonic facilitatory influence of substance P on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens". Brain Research. 385 (2): 379–382. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(86)91087-5. ISSN 0006-8993. PMID 2430671. S2CID 25302906.
  13. ^ Elliott, P. J.; Chan, J.; Parker, Y. M.; Nemeroff, C. B. (1986-09-03). "Behavioral effects of neurotensin in the open field: structure-activity studies". Brain Research. 381 (2): 259–265. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(86)90075-2. ISSN 0006-8993. PMID 3756503. S2CID 35727997.
  14. ^ "Glaxo Wellcome pharmacology guide". www.pdg.cnb.uam.es. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  15. ^ "Alkermes home page". Alkermes.com. 2021-02-22.
  16. ^ "Julian Adams, PhD". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  17. ^ "ProScript to collaborate with NCI for development of PS-341 for cancer". www.thepharmaletter.com. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  18. ^ "Millennium Pharmaceuticals | Takeda". www.takeda.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  19. ^ "Velcade". FiercePharma. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  20. ^ "Millennium Pharmaceuticals set to buy LeukoSite for $635 million - Pha". www.thepharmaletter.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  21. ^ "PROTEASOME INHIBITORS FOR THE TREATMENT OF STROKE | SBIR.gov". www.sbir.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  22. ^ "CombinatoRx Changes Company Name to Zalicus Inc". FierceBiotech. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  23. ^ "CombinatoRx pulls in $42M from IPO". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  24. ^ "Combinatorx and Bio*One Capital Establish Combinatorx Singapore for Infectious Disease Product Discovery and Development". www.bionity.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  25. ^ "CombinatoRx". FierceBiotech. 20 July 2004. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  26. ^ WO 2005030132, Padval, Mahesh & Elliott, Peter, "Therapeutic regimens for administering drug combinations", published 2005-04-07, issued 2004-09-23, assigned to Combinatorx Inc. 
  27. ^ "People". Nature Biotechnology. 19 (12): 1183. 2001. doi:10.1038/nbt1201-1183. ISSN 1546-1696.
  28. ^ Wang, Shirley S. (2008-01-08). "Wine Pill Makes Progress". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  29. ^ Lite, Jordan. "Wine diet in a pill: Mice stay trim and fit on drug". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  30. ^ "Sirtris launches IPO". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  31. ^ "GSK buys Sirtris for $720M". FierceBiotech. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  32. ^ "Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Announces First Phase 1 Trial Of A Sirtuin Therapeutic". BioSpace. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  33. ^ "Drug shows neuroprotective potential in animal model of optic neuritis". www.healio.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  34. ^ "Sirtris' review of sirtuin therapeutics for diseases of aging in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery". medicalxpress.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  35. ^ "Resveratrol Reduces Fat and Boosts Endurance". Rejuvenation Science Supplements for Doctors and Patients. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  36. ^ "AURA BIOSCIENCES | StartHub". www.starthub.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  37. ^ "PageConfidentialBUILDINGSUCCESSFULBIOTECHSMITTECHNOLOGYBREAKFAST". Investor.verastem.com. 2021-02-22.
  38. ^ "Flex Pharma Forms Distinguished Scientific Advisory Board". www.businesswire.com. 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  39. ^ "Team". Jupiter Orphan Therapeutics. Retrieved 2021-02-22.